Circumstance
by Abulic Decisions
Summary: After graduation, Draco and Hermione are living together. Will anything come of their relationship? Will they be forced to separate? Only time will tell.
1. Default Chapter

****

Chapter 1

The rain beating down on the windshield made it almost impossible to see. The top of the red convertible was still down – the storm had developed suddenly – but neither occupant minded the deluge. The two were on their way home from a festive gathering in the foothills of the Keystone Mountains. There was still about three hours of driving to do until they arrived at their destination. Hopefully they would return to a dining room table covered in a gourmet spread, but with the way his father had been acting lately, nobody was ever sure of what to expect when they walked in the manor door.

There were no other cars on the road. The rain was keeping most sane drivers off the road, but the two passengers in the red convertible were not typical, everyday people. Once the car's interior was thoroughly soaked, she decided it was time to put the top back on the car. She knew the car was his baby, but she couldn't stand the rain any longer; her hair looked like a rat's nest.

She leaned over and said in his ear, "I'm putting the top up."

"What?" came the puzzled reply as he kept switching his view from the road to his passenger.

She pointed up and then covered her head to show him what she meant so as not to have to shout at him. Luckily he understood what she meant.

"Okay," he nodded in agreement, snapping his attention back to the nearly flooded highway as he tried to read the exit signs. Visibility was still difficult because the rain had not yet let up and he was still racing the car in order to cut time off the return trip home.

He kept his eyes on the road as best as he could while she struggled to pull the top of the car up and secure it into place. The rain made her hair very stringy, but a fleeting moment in his mind forced him to think of how pretty she looked with her windblown, wet, ratty hair streaked across her face.

The daredevil driver was still pushing his luck in the weather, going no slower than seventy miles per hour. The road ahead was pin straight, and he set the cruise control at eighty-five, smiling at the girl next to him. She had just settled back in her seat, wiping the hair from off of her face and she caught his eye and matched his smile with one of her own. The girl was not sure what she had ever seen in him, but after their fifth year at school things had started to change. Through their last two years at school he had become friends with her close-knit group and something special had developed between the two travelers. Maybe it was the similarities in authority at the school or maybe the career selection – they were both working in childcare – that had drawn the two closer than ever, but whatever it was that brought them together seemed like magic. Before the spark was ignited the two were bitter enemies and were rarely seen together. Now that they were finally out of school, they were hardly ever apart for more than two days at a time.

Nobody was on the deserted road that rainy night. The strange party had broken up early, without much fun for the guests. All of the other revelers had either decided to spend the night where they were, or to apparate to their proper homes when they had felt the first drops of rain and seen the frightening gray skies looming in the distance. The driver was anxious to get home. He had not seen his parents in at least a week and was looking forward to some home cooking. As the other guests were bringing their belongings in from their cars, this stubborn boy and his girl bid farewell to the host and hostess and sped away, out of the foothills of the Keystone Mountains back toward the manor where he lived.

The skies had been crying for almost an hour without any sort of letup. Vision was worse than ever as the car maintained a steady racing speed. At least now the pair was out of the mountains. The road lay straight ahead until the exit for the manor. Far ahead in the distance, a pair of silvery dots was blurrily glowing through the rain. The driver was not sure what those dots were, or even if they were there at all. He leaned forward over the steering wheel to try to get a better view through the pelting drops of rain.

Luckily for the two, the driver of the car with the blurry headlights had noticed the fast car approaching and had slowed down on the two-lane highway to let the car pass. When the convertible's headlights suddenly disappeared from view, the driver began to worry. There was nothing the stranger could do if they indeed were in trouble; the rain made conditions very bad for any sort of rescue attempt. Moments later, what could have been described as a loud clap of thunder became reality as the boy's car careened into oblivion.

The crash was unimaginable. There was not much left of the sporty car; the frame was twisted in a metal knot around the giant tree. Both airbags had deployed and there were skid marks on the road where the driver had lost control of the wheel. The girl lay sprawled across the shoulder of the highway, unconscious. The driver managed to free himself from the wreckage but was forced to crawl to his companion's side. His right ankle had been shattered in the union of hard wood and cold steel. The boy carefully lifted her head into his lap, so as not to cause any more damage. He had no idea how badly she was hurt; he only knew that she was still alive. As he sat there, he watched the rivulets of rain trickle down her chin hoping this was not the last time he would be looking at her beautiful features. When he realized that nobody was coming to help them, he pulled his wand out of his sleeve and shot a fine stream of red sparks into the dreary night sky, hoping that someone would see the signal through the crying skies.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

            After Draco had sat in the rain for at least 15 minutes, waiting for magical help to arrive, he remembered that his companion had carried some sort of small transportable telephone with her at all times.  He reached into her denim jacket pocket, and luckily found the phone all in one piece.  He had been with this girl long enough to know how to use the technical contraption, and successfully told the medical emergency team what had happened, as well as their approximate location along the highway.  The dispatcher assured Draco that help was on the way, and then the phone conversation was ended by a large clap of thunder which caused Draco to drop the phone.

            "Great, not only is it pelting rain, but I'm stuck under a tree with an unconscious girl.  This night couldn't get any worse," Draco thought to himself.

            The muggle hospital must have been much closer than Draco had thought, because the medical team was on the scene less than 20 minutes after the phone call.  When he saw the sirens coming from the distance, Draco laid her head carefully back onto a small clump of grass and attempted to stand, only to collapse hard again onto his left side.  In his concern for his companion, Draco forgot that he had been hurt at all.  The surge of adrenaline through his body must have been huge.  He leaned against a tree, keeping his weight on his left side, and welcomed the ambulance crew with much relief in the fact that help had finally arrived.

*          *            *            *            *            *

            A sterile room came into focus in the two still-sleepy, large brown eyes of the girl who occupied the bed.  She tried to sit up, but the combination of antiseptic smell and pain killing drugs took a firm hold of her body and made her so dizzy she fell onto the pillows behind her.  She had not yet even seen Draco sitting next to her bed, with a cast on his driving foot and a pair of crutches leaning against the radiator.  He awaited her arrival into the conscious world by staring out the small window, watching the rain, which had slowed to a moderate drizzle overnight.

            To nobody in particular, the girl spoke softly, "Where am I?"

            For such a smart muggle girl, she was acting rather foolish - almost as if she had never seen the interior of a hospital.  Draco shuddered at the thought quickly to himself before answering the girl's question.  "You're in a hospital," he said rather simply.

            Her eyes had spent more time refocusing since her awakening.  "Why am I laying here?  What happened to you?"  She couldn't help staring at the plaster cast on his foot.

            Great Merlin, she didn't remember any of the crash.  His eyes turned to meet hers, and a wave of guilt washed over him.  He wanted to tell her all that had happened, but in fear of causing her emotions to swell, Draco decided to just sit with her and wait for one of the nurses to come in to check her progress.  He would let the medical professionals handle the issue of dispersing information.

            After the daily rush of doctors and nurses, and a whole day of catnapping for both of them, she finally spoke, "Why didn't you tell me?"

            Draco stared out the window and collected his thoughts before speaking, "You weren't ready to know.  I didn't want to hurt you even more."

            "I deserve to know the truth, love.  Does your father know yet?  At the least you should have told your family."

            "Actually, I was planning on going home tonight.  The doctor discharged me before, but you still have to stay here for one more night, just to make sure your wounds are healing properly."

            "You mean you're actually going to leave me here?"

            "Well," he paused, "yes.  But only for the night.  Once I explain things to my father, I will return to rescue you from this place."

            She would have argued against his departure with more gusto, but her latest dosage of painkillers had just kicked in, so she simply nodded her agreement with his plan to leave as she settled back onto her pillow to take another catnap.  Draco watched her sleep for five minutes before quietly slipping out of the room.

*          *            *            *            *            *

            A small pop was heard in a narrow alleyway behind the hospital as Draco Apparated to his home at Malfoy Manor.  He levitated his suitcase in front of him as he walked up the long driveway, contemplating how to break the news of his beloved car's mishap to his father.

            He had expected to find Lucius sitting in his armchair in the library, where he spent many a day plotting his coup against Lord Voldemort.  Much to his surprise, the library was empty.  He dropped his suitcase to the floor and stood in the middle of the floor, next to the leather armchair wondering where his father could be.  A small drop of something that fell from the ceiling of the library told Draco exactly where his father was.

            There were robes and clothes of all colors and sizes strewn about the master bedroom.  Draco assumed that his father had drawn a bath and had passed out from drinking too much scotch.  Unfortunately, nothing could keep the shock of surprise off of Draco's face as he walked into the bathroom to retrieve his father from the water.

            "What the HELL are you doing?"

            Lucius and Narcissa were snogging wildly in the bathtub, which was overflowing with bubbles.  They both looked up, surprised at their son's unexpected arrival, but only Lucius spoke.

            "I suppose you would have liked me to wait for you before starting?"

            Draco shuddered and turned away as Lucius rose from the tub and stepped out onto the bathmat, grabbing a towel from the nearby heater.

            Lucius continued speaking, "Why are you home?  I thought you were coming home with that mudblood girl."

            Draco hung his head guiltily before speaking, "I _had_ to come by myself.  There was no way around it.  And her name is not '_that mudblood girl'._"  By this time, Lucius was fully covered in a bathrobe and had moved into the bedroom.  Draco obediently followed as he continued speaking.  "The convertible is wrecked," he winced in expectation of a devastating blow of the hand, "It was raining, and I lost control of it.  It slammed into a tree, giving me this shattered ankle.  Hermione is still in the hospital.  Her injuries were worse because she was on the impact side of the car."

            Lucius muttered something about it being "too bad" that she was still in the hospital.

            Draco ignored his father's snide comment as he continued, "You have to come back to the hospital with me."  At this statement, Lucius sent a surprised look across the room to his son.  "The hospital staff will not release her to my care.  She doesn't want her parents to know what happened.  You're the only one who can get her out of that place."

            "Really?  Me?  The only one?" Lucius marveled at the importance of his position in the situation.  "Since I know how much Miss Granger," he nearly flinched at the mention of a Gryffindor name, "means to you, we will Apparate early tomorrow morning to this muggle hospital you speak of.  She can recover from her injuries at Hogwarts; I'm sure Poppy wouldn't mind taking care of her."  Lucius would have suggested keeping the girl in spare bedroom in the Manor, but if that had happened, the whole mansion would be impure.  And besides, there was the mean, nasty image he had to uphold.

*          *            *            *            *            *

            Hermione woke up late the next morning surrounded by four smiling faces.  As soon as the Weasleys had found out about the accident, Mrs. Weasley gathered Ron, Harry, and Ginny together to visit Hermione in the hospital.  She had not been expecting any visitors except for Draco, and was slightly confused as her vision cleared as she looked around the room at the people watching her sleep.

            "Oh!" Hermione said in surprise, "How nice to see you all here.  How did you ever know what happened?"

            Ron spoke up, "As it just so happens, one of our owls was flying overhead with a package for us.  He saw you lying on the ground before the medic team came to save you.  He immediately flew home to tell us."

            "How are you feeling, dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

            "Better than yesterday, that's for sure," came the reply.

            "When can you go home?" Ginny asked.

            "I'm honestly not sure, Ginny.  The doctor hasn't told me yet.  Maybe they told Draco.  He should be back sometime this morning."

            "I don't think it matters when you go home, Hermione, as long as you get there all in one healthy piece," Harry summed up.

            "Yes, that is true.  Everything is easier when I'm all in one piece."

            Hermione had no clue where she would be going after she was released from the hospital's care.  She didn't really care either, because no matter where she went – Malfoy Manor, The Burrow, or even back to Hogwarts – she knew that she would be well taken care of.  The rest of the morning was spent catching up on news of her friends.  Ever since she and Malfoy had been together, she had seen less of Ron and Harry.  They exchanged many a tale, but Draco chose the middle of the last story to come striding into the single hospital room with a very happy look on his face.

            "Great news, love.  They're letting you come home with me today!"  Hermione stared at him in surprise as he continued talking. "Father is signing the discharge papers as we speak.  You'll be home in no time at all."  Draco took the opportunity to glance around the room at the four new faces during the deathly silence that followed his announcement.

            "Hello Malfoy," Harry sneered.  "Where are you bringing Hermione?"

            An eerily calm adult voice spoke, "She is coming to Malfoy Manor.  We will keep here there until she is healed."  Lucius Malfoy had just entered the room, dressed in his finest black robes with a large serpent clasp at the neck of the cloak.

            "What are you doing involved in all of this, Lucius?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

            "I was about to ask the same of you, Molly," came the reply.


End file.
